Alien Vs Predator (1994)
Alien vs Predator was created by Rebellion Developments, a Oxford-based game developer founded by brothers Jason and Chris Kingsley.[4][5][6][7][8] Its foundation was laid when the brothers secured a deal with Atari Corporation; Rebellion presented a demo for Atari Falcon, which depicted flying dragons against longships to the publisher's directors, whom sought games for Atari Jaguar. They were commissioned to work on AVP and Checkered Flag (1994) after being impressed with their previous release, Eye of the Storm (1993).[6][7][8][9] It was produced by James Hampton, a developer who had worked at Lucasfilm Games before departing to Atari, being one of his first projects when starting work for the company in 1992.[10][11][12][13][14] Andrew Whittaker (now Jane Whittaker) and Mike Beaton acted as programmers, with Mike Pooler providing additional coding.[2][9][15][16][17] According to Hampton, the project originally began as a corridor-based shooter for Atari Lynx that was under development by British studio Images Software, featuring characters and locations in reference to Dark Horse Comics' Aliens vs. Predator comic book series. Images Software created a demo that featured the Predator and a human of the Colonial Marines but lacked the Alien as a playable character, however the game was put on hold and later cancelled as Atari focused its resources on the Jaguar.[10][11][13][14]
Alien vs Predator (1994)
San Drad, California has been overrun by Xenomorphs. Two soldiers were caught in the town during the initial alien outbreak and were abandoned by the rest of their team as well as their superiors, and are cornered by a swarm of Xenomorph Drones. Before they can be killed, two Yautjas appear and destroy the Xenomorphs, saving the soldiers. The Predators offer an alliance with the humans, in order to stop the Xenomorph infestation. Eventually, it is discovered that the Alien presence on Earth (and the subsequent swarm that overran San Drad) was the result of an experiment headed by a United States Colonial Marine Corps general known as Bush in conjunction with the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.
Alien vs. Predator is a 2D side scrolling beat'em up based on the Alien and Predator film franchises. Up to three players can pick from four characters to kill alien hordes and human enemies: there are two cybernetically enhanced humans (Major Dutch Schaefer, based on Arnold Schwarzenegger's character from Predator, and Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa) and 2 Predators (Warrior and Hunter).
I did develop a version with Aliens climbing walls, predator nets etc, butit just wouldnt fit the cartridge, and at the time I used the biggestcartridge that was available for the machine. Something had to give, and itwas features such as those, as much to my disappointment as anyone.
There a quite a few voiceovers in the game. The Predator voices were derivedfrom all the predator movies, lifted straight from the movie. The voices forthe marine were used in all the Alien movies and script (not all of themtranslated from first script to final movie cut). We used those lines, butthey were spoken by James Grunke, at that time Head of Music and SoundEffects for Atari.
Pocket : What for example ? Just graphic parts ?AW : Yes minor graphic tweaks, and maybe another couple of predator AI skills, but all in all I was happyand people seemto enjoy the game which is good
Aliens Speaking English: While averted with the aliens (Xenomorphs) themselves of course, the two playable Predators speak completely coherently. They drop partially into their native language during the Mad Predator battle.
Ambidextrous Sprite: The player characters and human soldiers are all right-handed. However, this is not the case when they're facing left. Dutch is the most blatant example since he has a huge cybernetic right arm.
Arm Cannon: Schaefer has a cybernetic arm with a Smartgun mounted on it. He is the only player character who cannot be disarmed because of it.
Authority Equals Asskicking: Played straight with the aliens, wherein Royal Guards are practically minibosses in their own right, with the Alien Queen being the toughest mother of them all.
Subverted with the human enemies. The Corporal enemies are stronger than the Sergeants, despite the latter having a higher rank, and General Bush, the one in charge of the Colonial Marines even ends up being dead courtesy of the Alien Queen ripping him in half.
Balance, Power, Skill, Gimmick: P. Warrior has middling stats (balance)
Schaefer is slow but hits hard (power)
Kurosawa is quick with a lot of moves (skill)
P. Hunter does more damage than Warrior but has low skill (i.e. range and priority) (gimmick)
Bait-and-Switch Boss: Bush, the corrupt general of the USCMC. After fighting his squad of mooks, you come face to face with him... and then he is impaled and bitten in half by the Not Quite Dead Alien Queen.
Battle Couple: Dutch and Linn, before teaming up with the Predators.
Beware My Stinger Tail: Many Xenomorph types can use their tails to attack, especially the Arachnoid class. The Alien Queen even impales the General with this before killing him, a move which she can also use on you in the final battle if you're not careful once she jumps above the ceiling.
Blade on a Stick: Each Predator wields one, which Dutch and Linn can pick up if they happen to get knocked out of the Predators' hands.
Book Ends: At the start of Stage 1, the human characters ask the Predator Warrior why the Yautjas are helping them, to which he responds that if they survive this, he will tell them. Cue the ending, where Linn repeats the question, to which she gets a cryptic "You'll find out. See you soon." Shortly afterwards, Dutch tells her the humans will be forced to fight against the Predators, as they'll surely be back for the next hunting season.
Bottomless Magazines: Played with for Linn. She can fire dozens of rounds from her pistol, but eventually she has to stop and reload.
Averted with all the projectile weapons you can pick up (grenade launchers, flamethrowers, smart guns, pulse guns). Fire one of these enough times, and it'll run dry and be thrown aside.
Cast from Hit Points: In true beat-em-up fashion, each of the player characters will utilize a special attack that leaves them invulnerable and allow them to get out of a tight spot at the cost of their HP.
Colony Drop: After defeating the Alien Queen for the final time, the heroes decide to use the USCMC carrier to crash-land it straight to the alien infested San Drad.
Cyborg: Dutch has a huge mechanical right arm after he lost his flesh and blood one in an unknown operation. The only reason you can tell Linn's a cyborg is when she starts slinging Xenomorphs around.
Deadpan Snarker: One funny moment during the malfunctioning elevator:Dutch: "Jeez, stuck again. What a rickety old junk..." Predator Warrior: "You mean yourself?"
Death from Above: Linn's downward aerial attack is stabbing straight down with her katana. And she can do it multiple times very quickly if you mash the attack button, with the added bonus of it can make the enemy pop up into the air and set them up for her very strong throw that can send other ground-bound enemies flying.
Degraded Boss: The Chrysalis and Power Loader bosses return (in pairs) during the final stage.
Disc-One Final Boss: You face the Queen Alien in the fourth stage of the game. You end up fighting human enemies over the next two stages, until the Xenomorphs start showing up again. It turns out the Queen was Not Quite Dead, and comes back as the Final Boss.
Duel Boss: The Mad Predator is normally fought alone if playing solo with no nearby enemies to assist it. Unless your playing co-op with two or more players where you fight two Mad Predators instead.
Elite Mooks: The uncommon Royal Guards (seemingly based on the Praetorian aliens) serve this role.
Enemy Mine: The Predators only team up with the marine characters because the Xenomorph population on Earth suddenly exploded to an alarming degree. Once the end credits roll, they acknowledge the humans as fellow warriors... but then menacingly point their tri-dot aiming lasers at them before leaving for outer space.
Evil Is Not a Toy: Normally a gist with Weyland Yutani when it comes to Xenomorphs, only this time they commissioned a general of the USCMC to bring live specimens for them.
Expy: In addition to the eponymous characters on the title, there are even protagonists that share similarities from the films they're based on. Dutch Schaefer is the more obvious reference (mixed with the strength of the T-800), while Linn Kurosawa is based off of Ripley's cunning (thus the high "skill" stat) and Sigourney Weaver's black belt. Okay, the last one was blowing smoke, but still. Parallels could also be drawn with Machiko Noguchi, the protagonist of the original Alien vs. Predator.
The Predator Warrior, as the more experienced elder of the Predator pair, resembles the Jungle Hunter, although he does employ the combistick introduced in Predator 2. The Predator Hunter shares the City Hunter's helmet color and status as a younger Predator looking to prove himself.
Flunky Boss: All the bosses come with some Mooks during the fight, with the exception being the Mad Predators above. In the final battle against the Alien Queen, she summons Degraded Bosses and Elite Mooks midway through the fight!
The Ghost: Despite the logo being present inside the containers used for storing captive Xenomorphs, no WY personnel are ever encountered, not even a representative from the group.
The Synthetics which are a staple of the Aliens (and its crossover to Predators) are nowhere to be found, making it one of the two arcade games where they are absent (the other is Konami's Aliens).
Grapple Move: This is the Infectoid's only attack (even when they carry Pulse Rifles) where they lunge and grab the player characters while a Chestburster bursts out from their host to take a bite at them.
Goomba Stomp: Linn has a variation where, when descending onto an enemy, she can kick them and bounce back into the air while knocking them down if they're non-boss enemies. With the Alien Queen she can bounce back and forth on her body delivering kicks until she goes high enough to clear the Queen's body.
Hyperactive Metabolism: Picking up food regenerates your health. Whole pizzas can restore a good chunk of your life bar.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Just before the Final Boss fight, the Queen impales General Bush and then rips him in two in direct homage to a similar scene in Aliens. The Queen can also impale you with her tail as one of her moves, and it is very painful.
It's a Wonderful Failure: If marine characters lose a life, the continue screen will be that of a first-person view of a Xenomorph hissing at you as they attempt to use you as their next hose.
If Predator characters lose a life, it will be a continue screen of them activating their self-destruct mechanism in an attempt to take their attackers with them.
It's Personal: The Predators are now on a manhunt to stop the one responsible for transporting Xenomorphs after being forced to kill their infected comrade.
Kamehame Hadoken: Linn has one special move where she charges, then unleashes a blast of energy from her hands.
Katanas Are Just Better: Linn carries one into battle. It's so much better, in fact, that it doesn't melt on contact with Alien Blood.
Kung Fu-Proof Mook: The blue "Defender" Xenomorphs have an annoying habit of blocking your attacks; grab them or use an unblockable move to hurt them.
Lag Cancel: Believe it or not, Overheating your gun has its advantages.
Mini-Game: The "Break the elevator before it hits the ceiling" sequence. Failure to do so will result in your character hitting the ceiling and take some damange.
Mythology Gag: The arcade game contains a few Shout-Outs to Konami's earlier Aliens Arcade Game, particularly the Chrysalis aliens and blue-skinned, chestburster-infected zombies called "Infectoids".
While not an exact quote, Dutch notes he and Linn are "expandable/disposable."
Not Quite Dead: Despite being killed in an earlier mission the Alien Queen managed to survive the encounter and made her entry known by impaling General Bush.
Oddball in the Series: Not that this is a bad thing mind you, but seeing Ki Manipulation, Predators speaking fluent English; and fighting along side cyborg ninjas is probably about as weird as the franchise has ever gotten as fantastical elements are seldomly present.
Optional Character Scene: Depending on number of players and chosen characters: Example (based on Japanese version) at the start of stage 5, when the human soldiers are attacking the party:Linn: "There can't be any other military units besides us!" Dutch: "We were disposable!" Predator Hunter: "So you're the cyborgs they abandoned." Linn: "Shut Up! We're humans not machines!!"
Overheating: Using a character's ranged weapon (Schaefer or either Predator) will drain a meter that slowly refills. If the meter drains completely, the weapon overheats and can't be fired again until it cools down.
Linn's meter doesn't refill, as it represents the ammo in her pistol. Once it's empty, she stops moving and reloads her pistol.
Percussive Maintenance: When the heroes arrive at the malfunctioning cargo elevator, the following exchange happens:Dutch: "I know how to handle this." (punches the terminal, elevator starts moving) "See? American Know-How."
And when it stops, it is done again on the other console. Lampshaded in the multiplayer:Linn: "You guys do nothing but smash..."
Personal Space Invader: Face Huggers and Chest Bursters will attempt to grab onto you and drain your health away. Smash the buttons to get them off.
Rolling Attack: The Chrysalis uses this on you. Predator Hunter also has an aerial/bouncing version.
Sanity Slippage: The Mad Predator is a result of a Yautja being parasitized by a Facehugger, and true to their namesake, they went insane and began to lash out at anything in their vicinity to the point that they are unable to activate their self-destruct devices due to their insanity.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Marine enemies will normally pick up either a Pulse Rifle, a knife, or a Smartgun if disarmed but if they have nothing to pick up, they'll promptly flee. Given who the opponents they're facing, you can't exactly blame them.
Shoulder Cannon: Both Predators wield shoulder-mounted plasma cannons.
Shout-Out: The Predator Hunter uses a Tiger Uppercut as his anti air move, and has Blanka's Rolling Attack as his air-to-ground move.
Major Schaefer seems to have learned several grapples from Mayor Mike Haggar.
Lt. Kurosawa can unleash a burst of ki by holding and releasing the Attack button, which looks similar to Chun-Li's Kikosho.
Slide Attack: Players can execute this move by pressing down and jump, capable of getting out of a mess if the players are surrounded by Xenomorphs. It's also very useful for taking down facehuggers.
Spin Attack: Major Schaefer's electric arm spin, Lt. Kurosawa's Senpuuzan, Predator Warrior's spear twirl, and Predator Hunter's disc blades.
Suddenly Speaking: Either the Yautjas have learned to speak English, somehow got translating devices, or they've prepared a lot of vocal clips for playback for every conceivable situation.
Technically Living Zombie: The infectoids are facehugger victims who are normally found cocooned into walls. Those that aren't will move and act like zombies but are in-fact alive... and beg for anyone to end their suffering.
The Unfought: Bush, the corrupt general of the USCMC due to being ripped in half by the Alien Queen.
Unexpected Gameplay Change: A small one in the third stage, where the game becomes something akin to a Shoot 'Em Up and you have to aim to shoot the aliens. Thankfully, you have no cooldown meter for this round.
Use Your Head: The Smashers are green Xenomorphs with hardened skulls that will try to ram the player with their heads.
Weak, but Skilled: Three stats are shown when selecting characters: Speed, Power and Skill. Linn has the lowest power and the highest skill rating of the four characters. She also has the largest number of moves out of the four.
Weaksauce Weakness: The otherwise resilient Infectoids can be instantly killed if they get hit by a single projectile, or any other attack that knocks them down.
Wolverine Claws: The aptly-named Razor Claws, which serves and the game's second boss, is a purple, mutant xenomorph with steely, elongated talons that allow it to rip its victims in half and which can cause some pretty nasty damage, which, coupled with its quick reflexes, makes it a very challenging opponent.
Worthy Opponent: The ending strongly implies that Dutch and Linn are this to the Predators, after testing them in battle against the Xenomorphs.
Wrestler in All of Us: Schaefer and the Predators use wrestling moves. Linn inverts this because her only throw must be performed in the air.
The Power Loaders, despite its clunky movements can perform a suplex on you.
Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: You kill the Alien Queen on stage 4. Happy ending? No, there is still the matter of the evil private army trying to kill you. Oh and by the way, the Queen survived the first fight against her.
Zerg Rush: Most of the weaker Xenomorphs rely on swarming their opponents to get a drop on them.
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